Heart of a warrior
by TaylaNovak
Summary: She hated her own kind. But she loved him. Tsu'tey the handsome, fearless Na'vi warrior already destined to be with someone else. But when she is captured and taught to be one of the people, can she break through his stone heart and see the softer side? Will he fall for her, as she has for him? Will they finally find one to match their fire? Tsu'tey/OC
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. God how I wish I did, but sadly I don't. Enjoy and Read and Review as always!

Who knew you could hate your own race? To the point where you would just like to nuke each and every one of them because of their stupidity and arrogance. She hated humans even though she was one of them. Humans take, and take, and never give without expecting compensation. They didn't know when to stop or give thanks, they just kept going, damning the consequences of their actions. They were fools, believing themselves to be so superior to everything else when they were killing their own planet. She hated them, with every fiber of her being, and she was one of them.

"Welcome to the link room." She heard Max giving a welcome to the newbies even before her link chamber had opened. She groaned as she sat up and arched her back to awaken her semiconscious muscles.

"Where's my goddamn cigarette?" Grace called. She smiled and swung her legs out of the chamber and stepped onto the cool lab floor with bare feet. Her mentor was currently fussing about the newest recruits, whose jaws both dropped as soon as they saw her. She rolled her eyes. She knew she was sexy, she kept her body in top shape, and made sure her golden skin and hair with its multi shades of blonde were flawless, but she saw nothing in the men of Hell's Gate. They were all trigger happy assholes that she would gladly shoot in the forehead.

Grace suddenly stormed out. "This is such bullshit!"

She rolled her eyes again, this time with a smile.

"And this is the lovely Sha'tira." Max said. "Our finest avatar driver."

She nodded to each of them and reached out to shake their hands. "Welcome to Pandora."

One was a skinny guy whose name was Norm and the other one was a former marine who was paralyzed from the waist down named Jake. He'd taken the place of his brother, Tommy, a man she only knew in passing but still offered her condolences.

"You're Dr. Augustine's apprentice." said Norm. "You wrote the book on the Na'vi Clans. I am a big fan!"

"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you. Sorry that I can't stay, but I have to finish getting your first trip ready." She turned to Max. "Are their avatars ready?"

"Yeah, they'll take them out tomorrow."

"Good. See you later, Max, I'll be in my dorm, hopefully for the next two days. You know how to reach me if Grace needs anything."

"Yeah, catch you later."

To call her room a "dorm" was a total lie. Her room was almost as big as the lab itself, fully furnished and carpeted with a bathtub bigger than her bed, just like she liked. Sha'tirra wasted no time stripping down to her birthday suit and running herself a hot bath. As she relaxed in the steaming bubble filled liquid with a tall glass of wine, she ran through the pictures of Grace's clan members. She already knew Neytiri well already. Her book was based on information provided by the na'vi princess herself. She had yet to officially meet Eytukan but she knew Mo'at. Finally, she came to the image of the infamous Tsu'tey. She squirmed at the sight of him. Even in a picture, he was strong and intimidating. He was also the Omaticaya's finest warrior and the two of them had often gotten into screaming matches when he attended 's school. It wasn't that they were enemies or hated each other, they were just too alike. Far too alike. As much as she hated the "warriors" of her kind, she couldn't help but be attracted to the infuriating na'vi man.

"Sha'tira!" She nearly dropped her Holopad into the bathtub at the sudden call of her name. She reached for her communicator and pressed a button on the side.

"Yes, Grace? You are interrupting a rather private moment."

"Are you in the bathtub again? You spend more time taking a damn bath than you do in the lab."

"Grace, I'm off the clock for the next 6 hours."

"You would be...unless you heard about the new plant we found that produces twice as many wavelengths as any that we've seen." The redhead sounded like an excited teenager and she had to smile to herself.

"Be there in 10."

Two days later...

Sha'tira sighed peacefully as she closed her eyes and let her mind go blank, transferring herself to her Avatar. When she opened her eyes again, she was in the shelter that stored the avatars. She sat up and checked herself, rolling her shoulders and feet, touching her thumb to each of her fingers, a routine that Grace had taught her. When that was completed, she proceeded to get herself dressed in her usual sports bra and shorts. She neglected shoes. She hated shoes. With her knife strapped to her waist, she headed out to meet the team.

Wainfleet was packing Grace's equipment into the Scorpion while Trudy yelled at him from the cockpit. Jake was playing with his gun and Norm seemed to be looking for something in his pack. Grace arrived just as she did and she dipped her head to her favorite student.

"You sure you don't want to come with me and Norm? Getting those samples is going to be a hell of tricky job in the valley."

"Don't worry about me. You keep an eye on trigger happy moron over there." She nodded toward Jake who smirked.

"Easy with that knife there, Beautiful." Sha'tira turned to look at Wainfleet. "Wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"Bitch, my knife is bigger than you are." She growled, lashing her tail.

"Get back to work." Grace said. She turned back to Sha'tira and smiled. "Promise me you'll be careful."

"When will I ever say anything but yes?" They hugged and the doctor climbed into the scorpion. She waved to them as they lifted off and went to her own scorpion where her pilot, a woman named Cassi was waiting. They were soon off as well, heading for the valley of the thanators.


	2. Chapter 2

"Cut it down, we're going to be here awhile." Sha'tira said through the mic on her necklace. She leaped out of the gunship and pulled on her pack. Cassi cut the engine of the Scorpion while her doorman, Jackal hopped out with his weapon at the ready. She shoved it down to the ground with her foot and hissed at him.

"If that gun goes off, I will castrate you." She smirked. "Unless the thanators do it for me." He frowned but wisely kept any smart retorts to himself. She lead the way into the forest, passing prolemuris and fan lizards and all of the beautiful pandoran flora.

"So Doc, what are we looking for?"

"We'll be looking for your head among the Thanator shit if you don't shut up." She growled. "We're looking for a flower, if you must know."

"All of this for a goddamn flower." Jackal scoffed.

"All of this is for science." Sha'tira said. They continued to traverse the wilds of Pandora before she finally found the object of her quest. It was high in the trees, attached to to bundle of vines, a large purple flower with tendrils that radiated with bioluminescence despite it being broad daylight. Panopyra as the humans had named it. But was Tawtsngal to the People. She looked at Jackal. "Stay here. Don't move and don't shoot unless you see a big ass purple thing with sharp teeth and its trying to kill you." He snorted in reply as she grabbed onto the first few vines that curled around the tree. She easily began climbing upward. Before her transfer to the avatar program during her training, she did a lot of freerunning and parkour and continued to stay in great physical shape. She was at the top without really breaking a sweat and sat down on a branch to begin taking samples and clippings. The process took about 20 minutes altogether, but she was in no hurry to leave, so she took her time.

She was interrupted by the firing of gunshots below, and looked down just in time to see Jackal disappear down a thanator's throat. "Dammit." She quickly packed and rose to a crouch. The snap of a branch behind her alerted her to the presence of another thanator behind her. She remained as still as possible, judging when the creature would attack, and just as it did, she leaped forward onto another branch, scrabbling back to her feet and began to run.

They were close behind her as Sha'tira raced back to the scorpion. "Cassi, start her up, we've got company." She creamed into the speaker around her neck. The whirring of an engine greeted her close by. She had just broken through the foliage and spotted the gunship about to take off when a thanator landed on her back. It wrapped its jaws around her pack and swung its head from side to side, shaking her like a ragdoll. She struck out blindly with her knife and managed to catch a part of its tongue. It roared in pain and threw her halfway across the clearing. Another quickly took its place, but she was on her feet to face this one. with her knife suspended, ready to attack, she unbuckled her pack as she saw another thanator about to attack the chopper. Without warning, she turned and ran in its direction. The thanator barreled after her and grabbed her pack, just as the first one had, but this time, she slipped free of the straps as it pulled. Cassi was firing at the thanator as it tried to tear up her rotors. Sha'tira leaped onto its back and stabbed at the back of its neck with her knife, but it broke off on the first hit to its armored hide.

"How the hell do we kill this thing?" Cassi screamed, struggling to keep the gunship aloft and fire the gun at the same time.

Sha'tira saw only one thing to do. She grabbed her braid and reached for the thanator's queue. The connection took only a second and the sensation that came with it, nearly made her fall off the thanator's back. She laughed and closed her eyes, just feeling the creature beneath her, that had frozen as they bonded.

"Back away." She said, and the beast obeyed. It slowly stepped backwards and paused, turning to roar at the other thanators as they tried to tear up her equipment in her pack. They backed away as well. "This is amazing."

"I'm sure it is." Cassi said, now can we go?"

Sha'tira disconnected her queue, immediately feeling the sense of loss at the contact. She climbed down and retrieved her stuff. The thanators remained docile as she did so. She climbed into the scorpion and Cassi quickly lifted them above the trees.

"Jackal's dead?" Cassi asked.

"Yea-" Sha'tira could hardly get the word out when the craft was suddenly wrenched sideways and she was thrown out of the side door. She managed to catch a seat belt before plummeting to her death when she spotted the creature that had attacked them. It was a Great Leonopteryx, but it wasn't the large red one that she was used to seeing. This one was larger and bright yellow with black and blue markings. It roared and again tried to savagely tear the plane in half.

"Goddamn!" Cassi exclaimed as she struggled to keep the scorpion aloft. An explosion on the tail confirmed that the rotors had been destroyed and... that they were going to crash. Sha'tira reached into the plane and retrieved her pack and managed to put it back on before looking down. They were near a large waterfall and a thick canopy trees, but she did recognize one of the surrounding landmarks. The tree of the Omaticaya could be seen in the distance.

"Jump, Cassi! Land in the water." She instructed.

"What?! You're cra-" The Leonopteryx attacked again, this time practically crushing the cockpit with his hind claws and stabbing at the cockpit with its maw. Sha'tira was forced to let go and plummet to the ground.

The cold water stung like hell when she crashed into the river. She scrambled to break the surface and breathe in the Pandoran air. She gasped and crashed into rocks and stones on the riverbed and was pushed by the fierce current for what felt like hours but was only about 10 minutes, before she finally summoned enough strength to grab onto the banks and pull herself to safety. There, she collapsed and vomited a gutful of water onto the grass. She groaned and laid down for a while.

A whirring noise interrupted her much needed rest and she reached into her pack, thanking Eywa that it was waterproof and pulled out her small holopad. Grace immediately appeared on the screen. "Sha'tira! Are you alright? Quaritch lost the signal of your plane."

"I'm fine Grace." Sha'tira panted. "Cassi and Jackal are dead. We were attacked by another Leonopteryx. Not the red one."

"Can you get the Avatar to a safe place so we can pull you back?"

"I don't know. I'll try to find the People. Perhaps they'll help."

"Be safe and be on the lookout for that jarhead marine."

"Jake's still here? I thought you guys went back hours ago. The sun is nearly set."

"He pissed off some Titanotheres and a Thanator and dove off a cliff. We lost him after that. Please be careful."

Sha'tira nodded and put the holopad away before getting up with another groan and setting off in the direction of Hometree. It must have been hours before she reached familiar forests and was walking along the broad branches of the trees when she heard a whipping noise. "Shit!" The Navi weapon slammed into her legs and she slipped off the branch and crashed to the ground. She quickly used her knife to cut it off but it took her a moment longer to get to her feet. Her worst nightmare emerged from the trees. Tsu'tey.

"You fucking asshole!" She growled as he smirked at her with his knife suspended. "That was so unnecessary."

"You should not be here." He said in his accented english.

"Where is Neytiri?" She demanded. "I need to speak with her."

"You are a demon in a false body. I should kill you now."

She hissed at him and drew her own knife. "Fuck. You."

They ran at each other with weapons drawn. She immediately dove beneath him, hooking his leg and knocking him down. His fist collided with her face with massive force as she rose to straddle him. She spat blood into his face and returned the fist. He raised his knife but she wisely rolled out of his reach. They faced each other again. He charged this time, spearing her through the abdomen before she could move. The wind was knocked out of her and her knife slipped from her grasp. With a triumphant roar, he raised his knife to strike the final blow… but stopped..when he froze.

A floating seed descended through the air, slowly and bewitchingly to land on her chest. Both of them stared at it for a full minute before it slowly began to ascend.

Tsu'tey suddenly turned her over and, using the remains of the weapon he'd used to hit her, tied her hands and feet.

"Again, unnecessary." Sha'tira said with an exasperated sigh. He only grunted in reply and dragged her back to his dire horse.

"Tsahik will decide how you will die." He grinned evilly and threw over the back of the animal.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hello Everyone, I have decided that since I have so many stories and ideas for more, that I'll update the stories by category and/or by whichever story has the most reviews. For reviews, I would love detailed feedback on the stories, what you liked, what you didn't like, what you didn't understand, etc. You get the drift.

I'm really sorry for the stories that haven't been updated in a while. I just finished with honors chemistry and it was kicking my ass. So sorry, I'll try to do better with the updates.

Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: This update is long overdue. Sorry about the long wait. Enjoy and as always _**please review. **_The category of stories I'll be working on next are my Spartacus ones, they shouldn't take that long since I already know what I'm going to do. The next ones will be Dragon Age and then Skyrim since I have so many of them. Their updates may not be as long. Again, if a certain story gets a lot of reviews, then I'll update that one ASAP regardless of what ones I'm working on. Thank!

Sha'tira growled as she hit the ground...again! Tsu'tey smirked as he picked her up again and threw her over the back of the direhorse.

"You're an asshole, you know that right?" She asked. "You know I'm going to kick your ass when I get free, right?"

He said nothing, just smiled evilly as he urged his mount forward. His smile disappeared as they neared Hometree. She was yanked off the horse, her bonds broken and a knife pressed against her braid as she was pushed forward with the surging mass of Na'vi. It was then that she spotted Jake among them.

He smiled at her and she rolled her eyes but smirked. Both of them received a hard shove in the back for it.

Eytukan did not look pleased at having two Dreamwalkers among his people. Tsu'tey and Neytiri assured him that a sign from Eywa was the only thing that prevented their deaths.

Eytukan studied her for a moment, before turning to Jake. Sha'tira sighed and completely tuned out the jarhead marine and soon found her eyes meeting Tsu'tey's. He sneered at her, and she grinned, making him hiss in annoyance. As much as the man irritated her to no end, it was pretty fun being on the other end.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Mo'at arrived. She studied Jake, questioning him and stabbing him with some kind of bone and accepted him into clan, to be trained by Neytiri, who groaned in response.

The Tsahik turned to Sha'tira. "And why have you come to us?"

"I have come to learn, Mo'at." She said, bowing her head respectfully. "I was attacked by Taruk, and forced to come here. I am familiar with your ways, but I would like to be a part of them." She paused to take a deep breath. "My people, the skypeople are like poison. They destroy everything they touch. I won't let them destroy Pandora. I was born a skyperson, but my heart is Navi, it is Eywa's. I ask for a chance. I defended The People against my own kind before. I know that it was not enough. Give me the chance to become One of the People and make everything right."

"You killed the man who took Sylwanin from us." She said in her very accented English. "Your heart belongs to Eywa. Tsu'tey!" She turned to face the future leader. "You will train Sha'tira. Teach her to walk and fight as we do."

Tsu'tey's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "She will never be One of the People. She is-"

"Enough Tsu'tey." Eytukan snapped, silencing the younger warrior at once.

Sha'tira grinned again as she climbed the spiraling trunk of Hometree behind her new mentor. She had to resist the urge to cover herself. She wasn't modest, but she usually didn't run around nearly naked. The Omaticaya clan were gathered to eat. She followed him over to his designated spot and dropped into a crouch next to him. He pushed a folded leaf in front of her without looking at her. She opened and frowned at the mushed white stuff inside.

"What is this?"

"Teylu." Tsu'tey grunted.

"What's it made of?"

"Eat it." He commanded.

She swallowed and slowly picked some up between her fingers and ate it. It was surprisingly crunchy and she had to fight the instinct to spit it out. She swallowed it down and blinked. "That wasn't too bad."

"Sha'tira." Mo'at said. "What is your opinion of the other dreamwalker, Jakesully."

"Um, he's a bit of a skawng." She answered, wiping her mouth and earning chuckles from both clan leaders. "But he has a strong heart."

"Why do you hate your people?" Eytukan asked. "You know why we do not trust them, but you are one of them."

"They are like a sickness. They come and kill everything they touch. What they do not understand, they kill. They're first instinct is to kill. I hate that, the way they think that they are above all other creatures."

"They do not believe." Eytukan agreed.

"They take what they want, without regards of consequences. I have never wanted to be a part of something like that." Sha'tira looked down at her food with a sigh. Her people.

They finished eating and Tsu'tey lead her to where the People slept, hammock-like leaves that folded over the sleeping person at the touch of a hand. It was surprisingly soft.

"Training begins at first light." Tsu'tey growled at her.

"I know."

"Do not die in sleep, dreamwalker."

"Wouldn't count on it, asshole. I have yet to finish making your life a living hell." She smirked at him and he rolled his eyes and climbed into his own hammock.

The next thing Sha'tira knew was Grace's hand slapping her across the face. "What the hell?" Then the redhead had snapped her up in a bearhug.

"I thought you were dead."

"As you can see, I'm not."

"I'm okay too." Jake called.

Grace rolled her eyes. "Is the avatar safe?"

"Yes, at Hometree. Mo'at let us into the clan."

"What?" The redhead's face was priceless as she glared in Jake's direction before turning back to her favorite student.

"I need a bath." Sha'tira said.

"No, you are going straight to bed. The Navi get up early. You don't have time to take an hour long soak. Then I have to give the jarhead so semblance of training."

"Grace! Relax." Sha'tira smiled. "Everything will be fine."

"You're right." Grace sighed. "Just promise me something, okay?" She said with a serious expression.

"Anything."

"Be careful."

"That worked out well this morning."

"Don't kill Tsu'tey and don't sleep with him either."

"Kill maybe, sleep, ha. You're funny."

"I'm serious."

"So am I." Sha'tira climbed out of her link chamber and staggered back to her room. She listened to Grace and didn't take a bath, but she did take a thirty minute shower. Afterwards, she collapsed onto her bed and sighed. Sleep found her quickly. Her dreams were invaded by a certain infuriating navi man. She just couldn't get a break. She now had to deal with the asshole all day, and now he wouldn't even give her peace in her dreams. Thank Eywa that morning came quickly.


	5. Chapter 5

Sha'tira was tired. She was sick and tired of running, and tired of watching Tsu'tey's gigantic ass as he lead her on a run through the forest. She was already well acquainted with how to ride a direhorse, so they skipped that and cut right to the cardio. They'd been running all morning and although she knew Tsu'tey was tired, he wasn't about to stop because of her.

They came to a wide gap and Tsu'tey leaped across, using a branch to swing himself over. He paused and waited to see if she would make the jump. She was about to follow when she heard a beeping noise, followed by a loud grinding noise and the trees began shaking violently. Both of them looked around in confusion before a bulldozer came into view.

_**What the hell were they doing here? The dozers weren't supposed to be anywhere this quadrant of the forest. **_Sha'tira had to hang on to the branches or risk falling. Tsu'tey was pulling out his bow. _**There are too many. He'll be killed.**_ She didn't even pause to think about the fact that this was the man who constantly pissed her off, that made her squirm uncomfortably just from looking at him, or that she badly wanted to kick his ass for the direhorse thing. She leaped across the trees, intending to grab onto the branches next to him, but missing it completely. So she grabbed the next best thing... which happened to be his tail. Tsu'tey screamed as he was pulled backwards and both of them plummeted to the ground.

Both of them hit the ground hard. "What are you doing?!" He snapped.

"Saving your ass." She responded, snatching his bow and quickly climbing back into the tree. She'd only used a bow a few times and she prayed she was good enough to make the shot. She aimed for the small box on top of the bulldozer that allowed the driver to see. It exploded as the arrow hit it and the bulldozer went still. "I'll have to notify Grace about this later."

Tsu'tey approached her and snatched his bow back. "Do not touch my bow."

"Yes sir." She said with a roll of her eyes.

They finished their morning run without running into anymore RDA and made their way back to Hometree. Tsu'tey didn't pause, he handed her a bow and told her to shoot it. She sighed again and did, but it was off the mark. He told her to shoot it again. They spent hours learning with the bow before Tsu'tey moved on to hand to hand combat. This was an activity that they knew each other in all too well and it was no surprise that the training session turned into an all out brawl.

"Hey!" Jake said, grabbing Sha'tira and pulling her backwards, tearing her hands from his throat.

Neytiri pushed Tsu'tey away, yelling at him in Na'vi and Sha'tira growled, shocked by the flash of anger and jealousy that she felt when Neytiri put her hands on Tsu'tey. She took a few steps away and turned to walk away.

"Hey." Jake said, falling into step beside. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." She hissed angrily, not understanding the feelings that were raging inside of her. What the hell was with her today? This was Tsu'tey. Why was she jealous about him?

"Maybe you two need to take a break for a bit."

"Whatever." Sha'tira snapped, leaving Hometree and walking along some trail, mentally berating for her mixed feelings for Tsu'tey. She found herself at a small waterfall where a few animals were drinking. She waded through the shallow water and sat down on the other side, trying to sort out her mass of deranged feelings. She despised Tsu'tey, loathed being near him, and yet she could've shot Neytiri a few minutes ago for touching him. Surely she couldn't be developing feelings for him...could she?

She laughed out loud at the thought. No, of course not. This was Tsu'tey they were talking about. Having sorted that out, she stood up to go back to Hometree and realized that she was no longer alone. A herd of Sturmbeests were entering the clearing. She began to slowly back away and cursed when a stick cracked loudly beneath her foot. "Son of a bitch!" She turned and ran as the Sturmbeests flew into a frenzy, charging her. The ground shook as the massive creatures gave chase.

Suddenly a powerful pair of hands pulled into a tree and she was shocked to look up into the face of Tsu'tey. He looked her over, searching for injuries and a small smile touched her lips at the look of concern in his eyes.

"You saved me." She said skeptically.

"You cannot die on first day. I will look bad." He said in reply, before suddenly pushing her off the tree branch. "That is for being stupid and running away."

She growled, picked herself up and yanked him down by his tail and punched him in the jaw, sparking another brawl between them.

xxxxxxxxxx

:How was your first day of Na'vi boot camp?" Grace asked as her favorite colleague sat up in her link chamber. The blonde glared at her. "So it was fun?" The redhead laughed.

"Oh shut up Grace. If I kill him, it'll be your fault."

"My fault?" The redhead continued to chuckle. "Well, you have another 3 months before you'll be one of the People. 90 more days of fun just like today."

"Shoot me now."

A/N: Please review! I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but couldn't really do much else to it so it may not be as good as the rest of the story. Sorry about that. Also, sorry about the long wait for it. I would love some more suggestions on what you guys would like to see or what to want to happen.


	6. Chapter 6

She is so annoying. She speaks and walks as one of the People, but she is one of them. An enemy. Tsu'tey looked up as Sha'tira was trying to learn Na'vi calls and signals from a young warrior named Leukolo, the runner up to Tsu'tey's own position, and he did not like the way she laughed at his words, smiled at his eyes. Why did he care? She was nothing but a pretender. Even with her false body, she did not resemble one of the true people. Her hair was not completely black, and it was never braided, except for her queue. It was black, with a single strand of gold tracing down her queue. He did not like the way Leukolo touched her. It filled him with a rage he did not understand.

Xxxxx

Sha'tira smiled at the handsome Na'vi warrior that taken it upon himself to teach her a few things while waiting for Tsu'tey. Leukolo flashed a bright smile as he got into a crouch, bow aimed and ready. She copied the motion and felt a slight pain in her stomach after having to pull back the bow and crouch forward.

"Tail down." He smirked, giving hers a smack. She quickly dropped it. "Very good." He said as they stood back up. "Sometimes, an apprentice's tail must be tied to his leg for him to remember to keep it low."

"Really?" She asked.

"Yes. They must learn. You are learning quickly. Soon, you will take your place among us."

"Hopefully." She sighed, thinking about her insufferable mentor and her strange feelings for him. She **did not** love Tsu'tey, that she knew. She didn't even like him, but something was changing and she didn't like that. It'd been a week since she and Jake joined the Omaticaya. She didn't see much of the jarhead unless it was at dinner. Today they were supposed to be going for a ride with them. Last time Jake couldn't even stay on the Direhorse, but she'd seen him improving quickly. Tsu'tey arrived, greeting Sha'tira and dismissing Leukolo without a second glance. He didn't say anything after that as he lead to the horse fields. Neytiri smiled as she approached and came to give her a hug.

"Sup, Tsu'tey." Jake grinned as Tsu'tey glared at him. He nodded to Sha'tira, who rolled her eyes as she mounted her direhorse. It was simple ride, more on Neytiri trying to explain to them the connection of the forest, trying to get them to see the beauty of their hostile planet. Sha'tira didn't pay attention for most of it, she just soaked all of the world in. She was already aware of the connection and the beauty. Now...she was a part of it.

Xxxxxx

Sha'tira sighed as she adjusted the video log. "Do I really have to do this now?" She asked over her shoulder. "I want to look at the samples you got yesterday."

"Yes, now." Grace said as she walked past, arms laden with notes. "After that, eat and get some rest. We're going on a trip tomorrow."

"What? Trip where?"

"Log." Grace said, tapping the camera as she walked past again.

Sha'tira sighed. "Alright. This is log...I think 12,000. Maybe 13,000, I stopped counting like last year or something. Okay, it's only been a week since I officially joined the Omaticaya. It's been...fun." Grace snickered from behind her and she rolled her eyes. "So fun, that Grace took all my guns so I wouldn't 'accidentally' shoot Tsu'tey, or myself, to you know, end the torture of seeing his face everyday."

"Maybe if you stopped threatening to kill him everyday-" Grace began.

"It would be doing us all a favor!" Sha'tira said.

"Hey, can you keep it down?" Jake called from across the lab. "I'm trying to read Grace's book."

"So you can **not **understand it?" Sha'tira asked. He grinned and chuckled as she turned back to the log. "Okay, in all seriousness..." She sighed. "Learning about these people from second hand accounts are one thing. Being a part of it...that's another thing entirely."

It had been only the third day of her training when the children from Grace's school had approached her happily, speaking with her in English and touching her hair, gifting her with bracelets and rings for her tail and her legs, and a colorful necklace of beads and feathers. Typically, young hunters wouldn't get such adornments until they'd matured in their training, but she couldn't say no to them. Mo'at and Eytukan had seemed more amused by the situation than anything. Tsu'tey was his usual self, unconcerned and every bit of the ass he always was. Training had continued on as before and they went on to practice with the bow for most of the day before Tsu'tey took her out into the forest for tracking.

She followed him, watched intently as he showed her a track in the ground apparently made by viper wolves, but she couldn't see anything other than groups of four little dips in the earth, not to mention that those little dips in the earth were going in all directions. But surprisingly, Tsu'tey knelt down to carefully explain how each belonged to a different wolf.

"They use this to confuse. Many tracks, one pack."

"So someone can't tell exactly how many wolves there are." Sha'tira said.

He nodded. "Now, tell me, which way did the pack go?" He asked, standing up to lean on his bow.

Sha'tira studied the almost imperceptible signs in the dirt and the surrounding forest, trying to see whatever he saw. "Um...east?" She pointed. "That way."

"Is that a statement or a question?" He replied smartassly.

"Um, statement."

"Wrong. They went north. Come, you have much to learn."

She sighed as he started walking again. "Hey, it's my third day. At least I know the language and I don't traipse around like Jake. The way I see it, you got off easy."

"That does not say much." He retorted gruffly.

"Will it pay you to be something other than an asshole?" Sha'tira asked, following him through the forest.

"I am not an asshole."

"You really are."

"Do as I say." He snapped. "Keep up." He took off. She slid her bow onto her back and took off after him. The forest of pandora was so alive, so full of life, and for once she was a part of it. Running through the forest, it felt like the animals were running at her side. She could feel Eywa's heartbeat through the grass, hear her voice singing among her creatures. Pandora was a hostile, beautiful world, a wonderful balance of beauty and danger. It was this world that Sha'tira had fallen in love with. This world, that had made her forsake her own. She stopped running in the middle of a clearing and closed her eyes, opening herself to the world around her. There was no other feeling like it, being a part of something far greater than oneself.

Xxxxxx

Tsu'tey stopped when he noticed his insufferable apprentice was no longer following and turned back to see why she had fallen behind. She stood with her eyes closed, face turned to the sun, so that it fell upon her like rain, highlighting the strange streak of gold in her hair. She was a mystery to him, a very annoying mystery. She spoke like the People. Walked like them, but she was not one of them, nor could she ever be. She was just a demon in a false body. Nothing more. "Sha'tira." She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Come."

"Coming." She said, giving him a strange look.

"Stay close." He commanded.

She simply nodded and did as he requested for the rest of the day. It was spent in the forest, trying to get the way of tracking through her thick skull.

Xxxxx

It was late that night after the communal dinner and Sha'tira was still up doing target practice. She inhaled deeply as she brought back the drawstring of the bow and aimed at the target.

"You know, it's a little late to be shooting bows, don't you think?" Jake asked from behind her.

"Yep, but I need to practice." She let it fly and hit the target just off the mark. "Damn it."

"Why are you trying so hard?"

Sha'tira sighed as she walked forward to retrieve her arrows. "Because I want to be good at this. I want to become an Ikran Makto."

"You really like these people more than you like humans, don't you?"

She turned to face him. "I don't **like **humans. I hate them."

"Why? Aren't you human?"

"I was born a human, yes. But my heart is Eywa's. And one day, I hope she will think me worthy of joining her. Humans wouldn't understand something like that."

"Those idiots down at the base don't account for all humans." He pointed out.

She nodded as she stepped back to nock another arrow. "That may be. But I've seen enough of **humans ** to last me a lifetime." She fired again and once again was off the mark. "Son of a bitch."

"We have time, Sha'tira. To learn all this stuff." Jake said, putting his hand on the bow. "It's okay to take a break." She put down her bow and sighed. "Relax...and tell me how much fun it is listening to your boyfriend talk all day." She smacked him with the bow. "Ow! Damn!"

"He is nothing like that! He is an annoying, conceited, stupid, infuriating skwxng!" She took a deep breath. "What about you and Neytiri?"

"Nothing." He said, rubbing the side of his face.

"Yeah right. I'm going to bed." She said, heading back into hometree. She knew she'd just given away her strange mixture of feelings for her mentor. She hated Tsu'tey, fucking hated him! Why did she feel the need to enforce that so much? She'd completely overreacted, that was true. Ugh, she needed a bath, a nice long soak.

"Sha'tira?" Leukolo appeared around the corner, giving the typical Na'vi greeting. She returned it. "Are you well?"

She nodded. "Just fine."

"You do not look it."

"I'm okay." She froze when she heard heavy footsteps behind her and knew it was him before she saw him. Tsu'tey made a dismissive gesture at Leukolo, and he left, but not without a nod in Sha'tira's direction. "Tsu'tey."

"I thought it was Asshole." He smirked slightly and she rolled her eyes. Why did he have to be so fucking sexy and annoying?

"It is." She growled.

"She should be asleep. You have to go back to the Sky People, since that is what you are."

"You're right. I do." she said simply, glaring at him. Just like that, he switched from sexy to the fucking asshole he always was and she wanted to punch him so badly, but she didn't. She sucked it up for now and made her way to her sleeping place. When she opened her eyes back in the link room, she immediately hopped out as soon as possible and went into her room to shut out the world that she was a part of, not by her own hand.

Xxxxxxxx

"Hey." Sha'tira was busy packing her bag of equipment for their trip to the mountains when Jake rolled up next to her. "I'm sorry for upsetting you yesterday. You know I'm a jarhead."

She smirked. "I know, and it's okay. Besides, Neytiri and Tsu'tey are going to become a mated pair. It doesn't matter if I like him or not. Which I **don't.** Anyways, let's go, Grace is gonna have a fit if we're late."

"Whatever you say, Doc."

Xxxxxxxxx

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	7. Chapter 7

Only a few feet away was the lone Sturmbeest, shuffling along the forest floor. It was a young male, strong and healthy, having left its herd to find another. It was vulnerable and the perfect prey. Sha'tira nocked an arrow, nearly balancing on the tips of her toes. Overhead, the skies of Pandora were crying. The rain only made her hunt that much harder and it was probably the most important hunt of her life. Today, she had been granted the right to kill. She needed a clean kill to be considered for the long trek to Iknimaya and gaining an ikran. She couldn't see him, but she knew Tsu'tey was watching. She knew he was close.

"Shit." She hissed softly when her foot nearly slipped off the tree branch. The Sturmbeest suddenly bolted. She growled as she sheathed the arrow and took off after it, running through the trees, careful to avoid falling to her death. Up ahead, the branches suddenly ended and she took a deep breath, nocking the arrow as she continued running. She prepared herself for the jump, sailing over empty space. The Sturmbeest sped by below and she fired, hitting her mark perfectly. Unfortunately, she was still flying through the air so there was no time to celebrate. She tried to land on a tree branch but she immediately slipped and hit the ground hard, knocking the air out of her own lungs and rolled a few feet before coming to a stop. She sat up and checked herself for injuries. Finding none, a huge grin spread across her face and she got up and raced back to the dead Sturmbeest. Her first kill. Tsu'tey was waiting.

"Look, I know that was terrible. Let me try again." Sha'tira pleaded. She looked down at the creature. It wasn't breathing at least, so it wasn't suffering. She stepped forward and knelt at its side, whispering a soft prayer to Eywa as she'd been taught to do. Her first hunt and she'd ruined everything already. "Look, I know that wasn't the cleanest hunt, but can I-" He suddenly slammed his hand over her mouth and growled, crouching next to her, tail lashing. Around them, the bushes were rustling. She glimpsed the viper wolves surrounding them. Her hand went to her knife. Tsu'tey copied the motion and released his hold on her. They turned back to back as the pack of vipers descended, but before they could be attacked, a great roar shook the forest. "Holy shit." It was a Thanator, and it was not happy.

Tsu'tey moved in front of her, drawing his bow. "Wait, don't!" She pushed him over as the Thanator leaped over them, knocking aside the viperwolves with hard swings of its paws. They scattered like the wind, disappearing into the trees, whimpering, as suddenly as they had come. The Thanator turned and faced them, the frills on his neck rising with its hackles as it hissed.

"It will kill us now, thanks to you." Tsu'tey hissed at her. "Get off me."

Sha'tira did not get off him. She placed her foot on his back so he couldn't make any sudden movements. The Thanator roared and charged. She ran forward and bared her teeth, stopping the beast in its tracks. It ever so slowly relaxed and surprised her by licking her cheek. "Hello old friend." She grinned, offering her queue.

"You have ridden a palulukan?" Tsu'tey asked, looking up at her.

"Yeah. I got stuck in the valley where they live and in order to survive, I had to bond with one of these babies."

Tsu'tey picked himself up and rubbed the dirt off of him. She had to force herself not to look at his abs as he did so. "Tell it to leave then." He commanded.

"No." Sha'tira scoffed. "He will help us carry the Sturmbeest back." It took no effort for the Thanator to flip the dead body onto its back. She climbed onto its back in front of it and motioned for Tsu'tey to climb on as well. He was still staring at the Thanator. "Come on, baby, we don't have all day. The people could use this food." He eventually sighed and conceded and mounted up behind her. "Try to keep your hands to yourself." She smirked. "I know it will be difficult." She looked over her shoulder and saw him roll his eyes. It was a swift ride back to Hometree. They were greeted with awed looks and bows aimed and ready to shoot down the Thanator. They dropped the meat and Tsu'tey dismounted while she rode the Thanator back to where they found him. "Thank you sir, and stay outta trouble." She smiled and removed her queue, watching as it backed away and took off into the forest.

The walk back was far longer than the ride, but she didn't mind. It was mostly quiet and she had to come to terms with failing her big test. She was surprised at her mentor meeting her halfway. He stepped in front of her, looking down at her as though he couldn't quite understand what she was, who she was. "Tsu'tey? Is something wrong?" He continued to look confused for a moment, before adopting his typical stoic, smartass look.

"You have passed your test." He said finally. "In 3 days, you will travel with others to Iknimaya to choose your ikran."

It took a minute for his words to sink in fully. Then it was followed by shock and sheer joy. "Are you serious?!" He leaped backwards when she screamed. "Yes! I thought I had failed for sure, that jump was so stupid. I shouldn't have tried to be an overachiever and catch a Sturmbeest." She jumped up and down excitedly. "I have to tell Grace and Jake. Thank you so much, Tsu'tey." Before she knew it, she'd thrown her arms around his neck. It took another moment for her to realize...he was hugging her back. She quickly leaned away though, glad that Na'vi couldn't blush. Even if they did, it was too dark to see it. The forest around them was lighting up with bioluminescence and the sight always took her breath away. She was so happy, so excited, her tail was quivering. "Thank you." She said, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. He had that confused look again. "What? Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

"Because you are strange." He answered simply.

"Why am I so strange?" She crossed her arms, looking up at him.

"You are not what you are supposed to be. You are human. But Humans are not your people. You are not Na'vi, and yet your heart is Na'vi. Eywa chose you. That is why you are strange."

"Yeah, well, don't beat yourself up trying to figure it out." Sha'tira patted him on the shoulder and started to walk away. "Believe me, you don't need to -shit!" The ground suddenly gave way beneath her. Tsu'tey tried to grab her and ended up being pulled into the hole with her. They tumbled through the darkness until they landed in water. Very cold water that shocked her senses pretty badly. The cavern around them was glowing bright blue, giving light to what would be an impenetrable blackness. Something brushed against Sha'tira's leg and she spun around, eyes widening at seeing the large, dark shape gliding through the water. "Tsu'tey?" she looked around.

"Up here." Her mentor was tangled in the vines overhead. He was trying to free himself when the dark shape in the water came back. Sha'tira looked around, trying to find something to grab onto or climb on, anything to get herself out of the water. She didn't want to be fish bait just after finding out she could become a hunter.

Sha'tira dove as fast as she could, narrowly skirting the massive fish. She wasn't able to make out much of its features to find out its scientific name, but the flash of its teeth told all she needed to know. It was not a friend, and it was probably hungry. She powered her way out of the creature's path and resurfaced, just beneath Tsu'tey. His tail was hanging down as he struggled to right himself and she did the only thing she could do. She grabbed it, making him scream, and shimmied her way into the vines next to him, curled into a wet ball.

"Stop grabbing my tail!" he snapped.

"Fuck you, I almost got eaten alive!" Sha'tira hissed. They took a moment to glare at each other before starting the climb back up to the surface. She made sure to yank him back down by his tail so she could get out the hole first. His reply was to trip her when she tried to stand. "Asshole." She hissed softly.

"Skwxng." He growled. He ducked her foot when she tried to kick him. She was prepared to try and hit him again when she felt a click in the back of her brain and everything went black for a second. When she opened her eyes, Grace was frantically trying to wake her, repeatedly smacking her and shining a light in her eyes.

"I'm up. I'm up!" Sha'tira rubbed the side of her face, silently hoping Tsu'tey took her avatar back to Hometree. "Why'd you wake me up?"

"You've been under all day. It's time to get out. You and Jake are terrible, you have another body, remember?" Grace replied. "Come on, get some rack." She helped Sha'tira up.

"I-I can do it." She said, swinging her legs out of the link chamber. She stood up and immediately her legs gave way and she hit the floor. "Ow."

"But you can do it, right?" Grace asked, standing over her with crossed arms and a smug look that soon turned to concern. She crouched next to her student and helped her sit up again. "You **have **to remember your other body. When was the last time you soaked in the tub? Or worked out?"

"I'm going to Iknimaya in three days to choose my ikran. I don't have time-"

"You don't have time to eat? Or sleep?" Grace countered. "I understand how incredible this opportunity is for us both, but it won't matter if you're dead."

"Dead." Sha'tira scoffed. "A bit over dramatic, don't you think?"

"I **think **that you will be joining Trudy on a run back to the base. Stay there a couple days and rest."

"But-"

"I don't want to hear it." Grace moved forward and helped her up, half carrying her to the back room where their beds were. Sha'tira scowled as she was forced to lay down, but her anger didn't last long because she was soon asleep, her dreams filled with a certain Na'vi man.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Early the next morning, Sha'tira and Trudy flew back to base. While the pilot refueled the ship and collected any other necessary items they needed, Sha'tira went into her room and took a long soak in the bathtub, running through the last weeks in her mind. She couldn't keep them from falling back on Tsu'tey. The way he tried to protect her from the direwolves and the Thanator. The way he hugged her… the feeling of his powerful arms around her...that annoying smug smirk of his…

"Fuck!" She sat up in the water and pushed the button for the shower to run, turning on the icy cold water and letting it rain down on her until it was too cold to stand. "Fuck you, Tsu'tey." She hissed, getting out and drying off. "Just fuck you. FUCK YOU!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Sha'tira?" Max called through the door. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Everything's fine." It would prove to be a boring couple of days as a very restless Sha'tira was confined to the lab watching Max do his little experiments or helping the other Avatar drivers. Mostly, she hit the gym, in a last ditch attempt to work off her extra energy, but it didn't seem to work. Every time she had worked herself to the point of exhaustion, which was one a day and once being 4 o' clock in the morning, her mind was viciously invaded by Tsu'tey. It was where a certain hated someone found her one day, trying unsuccessfully to ignore thoughts of her mentor.

_Why couldn't she stop thinking about him? He was so annoying and irritating and she wanted to shoot him, or better yet, cut off his tail despite how often it had saved her life so far. _She suddenly shuddered, remembering his touch, the way he pushed her behind him to protect her, staring down an entire pack of direwolves without fear. Sha'tira scowled as she hefted the dumbell in her left hand and threw it at the mirror she was standing in front of. She dropped the other one and sat down with a huff in the empty gym.

"Nice throw." She looked over her shoulder at Colonel Quaritch. Colonel kill first and ask questions and the second bane of her existence behind Tsu'tey. She wasn't even sure why he bothered to talk to her considering their views on the indigenous had lead to quite a few screaming matches. Maybe he thought that with his big muscles and tiny brain that he would be able to ease his way into her bed. It wasn't lost on her that half of Hell's Gate wanted to fuck her. Unfortunately she wasn't attracted to trigger happy fools. The king of those fools was standing right next to her. He offered his hand to help her up.

"What do you want?" She sighed.

"What's with the, uh…" He gestured to the mirror.

"It's just that time of the month. Felt like destroying something, so I did." She shrugged.

"Uh huh. How goes work with the blue monkeys."

"Na'vi." She corrected as she stood up without his help. "Why ask when we both know you don't care? You're trying to bulldoze their planet anyway. For a few fucking rocks, might I add. You all make me sick."

"You all?" He asked. "You talk like you're one of them."

"I would rather be." Much rather.

"Then you're making a mistake. You're a human just like the rest of us. Being paid by the same people, brought here on the same craft. What now, Doctor?"

Sha'tira glared at him. "People like you destroyed our mother, our planet. People like you, who believe that we know everything and can kill everything just by having a bigger gun. Taking what you like, destroying entire species and ecosystems. I'm not like you, Quaritch."

"Not yet." He chuckled, stepping close to her, so close she could smell his musk. She curled her lip but didn't back down. "This place makes you do a lot of things you wouldn't expect. When the time comes, I hope you pick the right side."

"When the time comes, I hope I get to put an arrow right through your face." She replied. That only made him smile.

"Hey." Trudy stepped into the gym, looking warily at the situation before her. "Everything alright here?"

"Time to go?" Sha'tira asked. Trudy nodded. "Great conversation, Colonel. We should **not** continue it at another time." She followed Trudy out of the room. There was a lot she had to do now in preparation for becoming a hunter and little time to do it in.

"You okay?" Trudy asked.

She nodded. "Just fine."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jake found Grace sitting next to the window in the small kitchen, smoking a cigarette and looking at a picture. He wheeled himself forward and pulled himself into the chair across from her and looked at the picture. It was of Grace, Sha'tira, and some of the People at the old school.

"Sylwanin and the other children." Grace said, without even being asked.

"What happened?" He inquired. Mo'at had said that Sha'tira had gotten vengeance for them after Sylwanin's death, but he didn't know the full story, and he didn't think it was right of him to ask Neytiri.

Grace sighed. "Sylwanin and some other warriors destroyed some bulldozers. They didn't like the forest clearing. I guess she thought we could protect them…" She put down the picture and took a long drag of the cigarette. "Quaritch's men slaughtered them. The People never came back to the school. They learned all they needed to about us."

"And Sha'tira?"

"She killed the men soon afterwards. Just opened fire on all of them."

"No wonder she hates what she is."

Grace shook her head. "That hatred started a long time ago, but it's made her stronger. Distrustful and angry, but stronger. I need someone strong on my team."

Jake looked up at her and smirked. "So tell me about her love hate relationship with Tsu'tey."

Grace rolled her eyes. "A match made in heaven but neither will admit it. It doesn't matter anyway. Sha'tira's not a member of the clan...yet. And Tsu'tey is promised to Neytiri. We can't afford to earn the ire of the People right now."

He frowned slightly, but managed to hide his real thoughts as he looked down at his legs, knowing that the real world was out there, where he could walk and run. This one just seemed like a dream most of the time that he simply ghosted through. He and Sha'tira both it would seem were born into a lot in life that they despised.

"Anyways," Grace continued. "Get some rack. Big day tomorrow." She flashed a rare smile. "You lucky swine. I'm rooting for you. Don't do something stupid like dying."

"I'm pretty sure Tsu'tey wouldn't mind."

"Probably not, but I would."

"Aw, Grace-"

"Do you know how much it would cost to send someone to replace you?" Grace said as she stood up. "Or how much effort it would require just to **choose **someone?" She continued to rant as she walked into the back.

He smirked. "Love you too, Grace." He slid back into his wheelchair and stuck the picture back on the fridge where it belonged.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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**A/N: Oh my goodness this update is way overdue.I originally had several chapters done and planned to upload them all at once but it got deleted and I had to start over. I am so sorry about that. I promise I will try to keep this updated. Another chapter should be added within the week. Send me some reviews or PMs, guys, on what you might want to see. Hopefully we can make some progress with Sha'tira and Tsu'tey in the next chapter. If they don't kill each other first...or Sha'tira doesn't lose her mind...and Tsu'tey doesn't kill someone… Hopefully. Sorry for any mistakes.**

**P.S: Merry Christmas! Happy holidays to all!**


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